The Long Night is how the Westerosi refer to a period when a terrible darkness fell across the Known World. It occurred during the Age of Heroes approximately eight thousand years before the War of Conquest, in the midst of a great winter that lasted for years. The Long Night lasted a generation and laid waste through famine and terror.[1]

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Westeros

According to Westerosi legends, in the midst of this darkness a race of apparent demons, called the Others, emerged from the uttermost north of Westeros, the polar regions of the Lands of Always Winter. They wielded razor-thin swords of ice and raised wights to fight the living. The children of the forest and their allies, the First Men, fought valiantly against them, but were driven southwards by their advance.[1]

Steps were taken to ensure that the people would never be caught offguard by an invasion from the north again. Bran the Builder supposedly raised the Wall, an imposing structure of solid ice and magic, stretching one hundred leagues from the Gorge in the west to the Shivering Sea in the east, cutting off the Lands of Always Winter from the remainder of Westeros. The Night's Watch guarded the Wall and protected the people from threats beyond the Wall.

According to a legend from Yi Ti itself, during the Long Night the sun hid its face for a lifetime, ashamed at something none could discover, and disaster was only averted by the deeds of a woman with a monkey's tail.[3]

The legend of Azor Ahai spread from Asshai and is especially prevalent among the followers of R'hllor.[3] A later prophecy claims that the Others will return and Azor Ahai will be reborn to lead the fight.[6] There is also a similar prophecy about the prince that was promised.[7]